Ohio State Women’s Tennis Travels to Virginia Tech – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 16, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s tennis team (5-1; 0-0 Big Ten) hits the road Sunday as the Buckeyes travel to Blacksburg, Va., to face the Virginia Tech Hokies. The match will be held at noon at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. With a win, the Buckeyes will claim the second best overall record in the Big Ten.
A Look at Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech is coached by Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods. Currently in her third season with the Hokies, Zawacki-Woods has a record of 21-31 in Blacksburg.
Last year the Hokies were 7-17 overall while finishing 11th in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 0-10 conference record.
The Hokies are led on the court by their No. 1 singles player, freshman Inga Beerman. Beerman is currently tied for the No. 100 ranking in the Fila Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. The doubles team that leads the way for Virginia Tech is the duo of senior Anat Elazari and sophomore J.J. Larson.
The Hokies are 3-1 on the season with wins over Radford, East Carolina and Davidson. The lone loss came in the season opener as the Hokies fell to Richmond.
Ohio State is 3-0 all-time against Virginia Tech. The last Buckeye victory came in the 2002-03 season as the Buckeyes defeated the Hokies, 4-3, in Blacksburg. Ohio State is 2-0 when facing Virginia Tech on the road.
Last Time Out
Last time out the Buckeyes defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, 6-1, to move to 5-1 on the season. Ohio State is off to its best start since the 2002-03 campaign.
Against the Colonels at the No. 1 spot in singles, Caitlin O’Keefe (So., Troy, Mich./Troy) defeated Meredith Giles, 6-1, 6-0. At No. 2, Sonia Ruzimovsky (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Tech) defeated Ina Durcakova by a score of 6-2, 6-4. Angela DiPastina (Fr., Titusville, N.J.) dropped the No. 3 spot to Lucia Vojtkova, 6-0, 7-6 (3). Ciara Finucane (Jr., Dublin, Ireland/Georgia Southern) took the victory in the No. 4 spot by defeating Jemma Euers, 6-1, 6-2. At No. 5, Kristin Messmer (Jr., Lutherville, Md./McDonogh) downed Terin Roof, 6-1, 6-0. In her first singles match of the year, Julie Voss (Fr., San Angelo, Texas/St. Stephen’s Academy) defeated Kim Underdonk at the No. 6 spot by a count of 6-0, 6-1.
On the doubles side, Ruzimovsky and DiPastina defeated Durcakova and Euers at the No. 1 spot, 8-4. At No. 2, Finucane and Messmer downed Giles and Roof by a score of 8-3. O’Keefe and Emily Howard (Sr., Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) defeated Vojtkova and Underdonk, 8-1, in the No. 3 spot.
Messmer Reaches Milestone
With her singles victory Feb. 5 against Missouri, junior Kristin Messmer reached 40 career victories. The milestone victory came in the form of a 6-3, 6-0 defeat of Stephanie Johns. Messmer also reached 25 career individual doubles wins with a victory over West Virginia Feb. 3.
Early Leaders
After six spring matches, freshman Angela DiPastina continues to lead the Buckeyes in singles with 11 overall victories. Junior Kristin Messmer is closing in with 10 victories.
In doubles, Sonia Ruzimovsky leads the way with 13 individual wins, while Angela DiPastina is right behind Ruzimovsky with 12 wins. The doubles team that leads the way is DiPastina and Ruzimovsky, who now are 10-2 on the season and 3-1 in the spring. The tandems of Julie Blackmore and Caitlin O’Keefe, as well as Kristin Messmer and Ciara Finucane are closing in, each with eight notches in the win column.
On This Date
The Buckeyes are 2-1 all-time when playing on Feb. 18. The wins came over Marquette, 8-1, in the 1994-95 season and Eastern Michigan, 6-3, in the 1993-94 season. The lone loss was against the Indiana Hoosiers by a score of 8-1, during the 1991-92 campaign.
Spring Leaders
In the spring, the Buckeyes have three players with records of 5-1 in singles- juniors Ciara Finucane, Kristin Messmer and Sonia Ruzimovsky.
Angela DiPastina and Sonia Ruzimovsky are the leading doubles team at 3-1 in the spring.
Facing Ranked Opponents
Of the remaining 18 regular-season matches for the Buckeyes, they will face 11 teams currently ranked in the Fila Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Those teams include No. 8 Northwestern, No. 20 Tennessee, No. 29 Michigan, No. 31 Indiana, No. 36 Nebraska, No. 39 New Mexico, No. 41 Purdue, No. 48 Iowa, No. 49 Illinois, No. 51 Wisconsin and No. 75 Louisville.
Doubles Point is Deciding Factor
The Buckeyes have won the doubles point in all five of their spring dual victories while dropping the doubles point in their only loss.
Bottom of the Lineup Leading the Way
The Top 3 spots of the lineup are a combined 12-6, while Nos. 4-6 are a combined 15-3.
Up Next
The Buckeyes return to action Feb. 25 when they return home to host the Louisville Cardinals. The match will held at 11 a.m. at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center in Columbus.
